The use of cellular phones in automobiles has increased significantly. However, historically it has been difficult and/or expensive for automobile manufacturers to provide in-vehicle “hands free” operation of cellular phone handsets. Due to mechanical and electrical differences among cellular phone designs, automobile manufacturers have not been successful in providing users a standard handset cradle capable of accommodating cellular phones from a wide variety of manufacturers.
Manufacturers have had some limited success in supporting hands free operation of cellular phones. However, the support is limited to specific handsets produced by specific handset manufacturers and supporting a single communications system technology, such as Advance Mobile Phone Service (AMPS). Meanwhile, there is increasing pressure to mandate the use of “hands free” technology in automobiles for use of cellular phones.
One communications system, Global System for Mobile communication (GSM), has become a dominant cellular technology in the world market. A key component of GSM technology is the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM). The primary role of the SIM is to authenticate a user on the GSM network and facilitate billing. SIMs are issued by GSM network service providers to subscribers. Subscribers can move their SIMs, in the form of SIM cards, from one GSM phone to another GSM phone, thus transferring their identity.
It is with respect to these and other considerations that the present invention has been made.